Chemical Inventory Management

Various regulatory agencies require the College to maintain a complete, accurate and
up-to-date inventory of its toxic and hazardous materials. Primarily though, inventories
are essential to inform individuals which chemicals they may have the potential to
be exposed to, further allowing them to better understand the associated hazards and
risks of these chemicals.

Each department head or designee is responsible for ensuring that a chemical inventory
list of the hazardous chemicals and toxic substances used, stored or otherwise kept
in each laboratory or work area under his/her purview is created and maintained.

A good way to prepare a comprehensive inventory list is to survey your work area(s)
to do a physical assessment, and purchasing records also may help. The broadest possible
perspective should be taken when doing the survey. Considering all substances to be
potentially toxic and hazardous simplifies the approach even though it may unnecessarily
include a few materials that are essentially non-hazardous.

Items NOT REQUIRED to be Inventoried:

Even though some items may not be entered into the inventory, the user is still responsible
to obtain a current Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for the product. The list below provides
some examples of common materials that do not need to be inventoried.

Any secondary chemical container that is produced in the lab from a primary chemical
container(s) that is already inventoried, for example:

1N Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) that is made from a commercially available 10N NaOH solution
or solid NaOH

Squirt bottles and spray bottle

Conical and “Falcon” tubes with chemicals or samples in them

Biological material, for example:

Plant or animal tissue, blood or blood products

Reproducing biological organisms, bacteria, viruses, fungi or yeast

Enzymes, antibodies, proteins, peptides, nucleic acids

Conjugated antibodies and proteins

Tissue culture media or other growth media

Buffer solutions for pH probes

Non-chemical diagnostic materials that contain a film on any surface (e.g. 96-well
plate)

Chemical spill kits

Inventories must be completed in a Microsoft Excel template available from the Environmental
Health and Safety Officer, or one can be downloaded Download Template.

Once a chemical inventory has been completed, the electronic file MUST be emailed
to the Environmental Health and Safety Officer at ehs@farmingdale.edu.

Each chemical inventory list must be updated at least annually, or whenever there
is a substantial change (i.e. a chemical is added or removed). After each annual update,
and whenever there is a change made, a revised chemical inventory MUST be emailed
to the Environmental Health and Safety Officer at ehs@farmingdale.edu and, where possible, the revised section or reason for change be highlighted, marked
up, explained, etc. for ease of rectification.

Upon receipt by the Environmental Health and Safety Officer, the chemicals included
on the spreadsheet will be added to the College's Chemical Inventory and Management
System, MSDSonline, where all chemicals inventoried on Campus are listed (i.e. the "Master" Inventory").
In addition, MSDSonline also provides access to associated Safety Data Sheets, identifies where these chemicals
are stored and communicates pertinent health and safety information (among other features)
aimed at better communicating the hazards and risks associated with the chemicals
used and stored on Campus. Click here to access MSDSonline